The horizontal stab system is very simple. i mounted a 450 size servo up the front of the heli by the rear of the mechanics. got my self a du-bro flexi pushrod and secured the end of that to to the top side of the stab wing via a hole i drilled through it. the stab wing is hinged, so allows movement. this flex was then run all the way down the tail boom to the servo, and which time, you can see i made little wooden guides to make sure the flex cable is unable to flex at any point. this will cause you to lose travel. once i got it all running through the guides smoothly by hand, i trimmed the cable down, used a sevo horn, a 4m screw and a small collar nut to secure the cable to the servo right at the point the cable exits the plastic tube that covers it. (be careful here - leaving too much cable exposed will allow it to flex. Its really basic. i had never done it before. had no plans, and did no researching, it just seemed logical. it cost me $80nz so like 55 USD and 40Euros, to complete. a nice inexpensive add on. i have it on AUX 3 on my dx8, which is a rotating knob. this allows for trimming in flight instead of just having 3 settings.

Jose with my apache, the heli's horizontal stab is permanently set to a down position, in fast forward flight, my apache wants to tilt forward more than I THINK it would in normal flight mode. it effects the characteristics of a model airplane so im wondering, even though all the wash, it can still have an effect on the helis flight characteristics once you get enough air flow over it? im interested to find out if having a trim-able stab makes much difference. the UH-60 is a bit more hulky though so may be different. u have a 500 size or 600?

jan! AWESOME! Dude one of us is going to have to come to the other with our sister helis and we are going to have to start some formation flying with our hughes, apaches and blackhawks!!! hahah

As for my blackhawk, Shes grounded indefinitely unfortunately Due to stripping the gears in the elbow drive. Jan, i hope its not too late, but maybe ask to just buy the RCA kit without the elbow tail drive unit and just use the extra money to get the smartmodel raised tail drive. i explain why below. tbh, you probably couldnt use the 5deg angle tail drive from smart model though because the angle of the tail housing area only allows and upward slope of the tail boom from a low-positioned tail drive gearbox. you will get what i mean when you bird arrives. the RCA one is not up to the task, and uses odd shaped bevel gears so replacement is a nightmare.

anyways, I bought a set of spinblades, 600mm black matt scale blades and put them on, and reduced my throttle curve a lot to compensate for the heavier weight blades. 73 Grams up from 68on the tf model blades. I purely do this because i like to gradually increase my throttle curve over a few test flights to make sure the esc and motor are happy. They look abslolutely brilliant for scale, and by all accounts spinblades have a rigorous testing phase before marketing their products. heres the blades: http://shop.spinblades.com/en/spinbl...ack-scale.html

i got to 50% throttle, went to load the blades up and lift her off the ground and all the sudden i heard a grinding noise and lost tail authority on the ground.
ive noticed the elbow gear has never been that smooth since installing it. It always gave me a little vibration at the tail and was quite noisy. it just seems the gears couldnt handle the job. i wasnt even flying, i was just loading up the blades to just past 50%. so yeah i dont know what happened there but i do not recommend the RCA elbow drive. just doesnt seem like it can handle the rpms. there was no reason for it to chew out.

so, i will be buying a smartmodel raised tail drive.

I post more pics, as this has given me more time to make mods to the body while the mechanics are out of action. Ive added the fuel tanks, and am building a cockpit firewall which i will attach battery mounts to the rear side of also. back soon!

About ive noticed the elbow gear has never been that smooth since installing it. It always gave me a little vibration at the tail and was quite noisy. it just seems the gears couldnt handle the job. i wasnt even flying, i was just loading up the blades to just past 50%. so yeah i dont know what happened there but i do not recommend the RCA elbow drive. just doesnt seem like it can handle the rpms. there was no reason for it to chew out.

Thats not funny and I'm surprised also because I did not hear/read about this problem yet
Or are you just the one with the crappy elbow made on Monday.
Did you inform Aerodyne about this problem.

I have already ordered the Kit but I will take a close look at the elbow assembly when I get here.

The Spinblades look great however the costs are also great
But you don't need to worry about the quality thats true

Hi jan, Nope, no damage, luckily. BUT for future reference on your build, i did find this video on youtube of what i can only imagine is this guys bulkhead cover popping off after touching down too hard and completely destroying his new bird, so im going to install some du-bro hatch latches to avoid this kinf of disaster, heres the vid. poor guy. he was slamming her down though. you will discover the landing gear springs do not have much give.

Since i have uninstalled the mechanics i can show some pics of where i am at now:

Ive attached the fuel tank and missile support wings and threaded the led light cables through the wing and down into the cabin and re soldered. after realizing it was quite easy to thread the led lights through, i wanted to put two solid white LED's into the port and starboard sides of the rear horizontal stab but i jumped the gun too early and adding them now would mean disassembling the entire flex cable system i made. oh well!
the holes are screw holes for attaching the wing, i will cover with screwed in balsa panels so i can remove if need be.
stripped elbow drive, jan, i think my headspeed was just too high for it to handle. i estimate up around 1600. the smartmodel version is so muc more robust and very smooth once your gears wear in so i think its a must.
horizontal stab pushrod system installed
im building a fire wall for the cockpit, which i will attach velcro battery straps to for battery mounts. this photo doesnt really explain it very well.
my lighting box is yet to be complete. once done, this will all be covered and stowed away neatly on the wall with a little maintenance door.

jan i switched the new spinblades over to the apache,...OH MY LORD. what an amazing difference. you really must look at these badboys for your next build. absolutely ZERO slop. the are perfectly formed. very thin chord, the sound AMAZING. propper chopping noise through the air. VERY HAPPY!

jan i switched the new spinblades over to the apache,...OH MY LORD. what an amazing difference. you really must look at these badboys for your next build. absolutely ZERO slop. the are perfectly formed. very thin chord, the sound AMAZING. propper chopping noise through the air. VERY HAPPY!

jose, they are symmetrical. they fly absolutely brilliantly. extremely happy. replacing all my helis blades with spinblades. they look great too. very thin, scale looking. they seem soft but handle the load no problems. www.spinblades.com - they are the only suppliers of their product so you have to order direct if im correct. it only took 7 days from germany to nz. should be quicker for you.

i also discovered on disassembling the BH mechanics, on closer inspection, it wasn't my head speed being too high which caused my gear drive to grind out, it was one of the supplied alloy bearing blocks. the machined hole that the bearing sits in was badly machined, it looks like it was made by a drunk, and even with bearing glue i can still easily pop the bearing out. this bearing popped out during the vibrational stage of spool up.

i have asked RC Aerodyne to replace the entire system for me. ie, entire gear drive set, bearing blocks, bearings, vertical drive and its brass cog, which is also very poor as far as manufacturing goes. its made of the softest metal, brass, and the thread in the grub hole strips when you apply pressure when tightening.

jose, they are symmetrical. they fly absolutely brilliantly. extremely happy. replacing all my helis blades with spinblades. they look great too. very thin, scale looking. they seem soft but handle the load no problems. www.spinblades.com - they are the only suppliers of their product so you have to order direct if im correct. it only took 7 days from germany to nz. should be quicker for you.

Thanks, I will be checking them to see if they ship to USA. I ordered a set of 5 scale spinblades black matt 600mm to be shipped to the USA

this is the bearing mount for the vertical drive shaft mod for the blackhawk uh 60. as you can see, its a faulty one, and has cracked the whole way through the center. this allowed the bearing to vibrate loose even with t48 bearing glue. i didnt notice it at first so the result wast a drive shaft flapping about freely and catching. basically wreaked havoc with my torque tube drive and chewed out the gears there, and in the elbow drive. i have asked for a complete replacement. hopefully RCA come to the party.

Well the above given proof off a faulty piece off mechanics shows all I guess.
Did not expected that from a €550 + kit
My Kit is on his way now and expecting it Monday or tuesday .
I have a lot to check, as I read your experience Jay
And I hope/expect that RCA will help you out with this one,

And regarding the Spinblades you have got my attention with them now next issue is finding some funds for it.....

But its a nice bird you have there Jay the big fuel tanks ad a lot to it